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How to eat your veggies and avoid foodborne illness

You need to eat your veggies and salads. Here's how to do it and avoid those food borne illnesses

Author: Thomas Robinson

Published: 1:58 PM PST January 27, 2020

Updated: 3:37 PM PST February 5, 2020

GREENSBORO, N.C. — According to the CDC, as of January 15, the E-Coli outbreak affecting romaine lettuce is now over. But this is far from the first outbreak we've seen.

2019 and 2018 saw a bunch of different recalls for lettuce and dark leafy greens.

If all of that has made you leary about certain greens you're not alone.According to a 2019 Consumer Reports survey, 25% of those aware of the 2018 outbreaks say they eat lettuce less often now. However, you can still take measures to make your lettuce safer.

The inner leaves of whole heads of lettuce don't get exposed to as many sources of contamination and aren't handled as much as bagged greens so consider buying them.

Soak your greens in a white vinegar-water solution for 10 minutes and then rinse them. They may have a slight vinegar taste, but many salad dressings have vinegar too, so it shouldn't be too noticeable.

If you're okay with not having a traditional salad, try cooking your sturdier greens like spinach, kale, collards, and Swiss chard.